INCREASED TAXI FARES SOUGHT

Southland Times, Issue 24654, 28 January 1942, Page 6

INCREASED TAXI FARES SOUGHT

Application Made In

Wellington

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, January 27. Six representatives of the New Zealand Taxi Proprietors’ Federation (Wellington branch) waited on the Wellington Metropolitan Licensing Committee today with a proposal to raise fares. A letter accompanying the application stated that taxi cab owners were finding it difficult under the heavy restrictions placed on petrol to maintain a reasonable standard of living. Permission was sought to raise the charge for all meter journeys by one shilling. The chairman (Mr T. C. A. Hislop) said that the application was _ not in order and therefore the authority could not consider it. He indicated that the Act under which the authority was constituted provided that such applications for increase in fares had to come from individual licensees and not from an organization such as the federation. Such applications had to be made individually, each one to be accompanied by a fee of 10/-. If all the taxi proprietors put in applications the matter could be dealt with, but should there be those who did not apply a notice would have to be inserted in the newspapers calling attention to the proposal and asking for any possible objections. If objections were received further advertisements have to be inserted calling the attention of all taxi owners to such objections. Mr G. N. Shaw, representing the owners, said that when an alteration was made in the fares on a previous occasion the committee attended to it. It was replied that this was only an alteration in the fares for wedding taxis and was made under a City Council by-law, but now the matter was vested in the Metropolitan Licensing Authority which had to follow the law as laid down in the Act.